Chen Changsheng, shrouded in starlight, walked towards the ruined sea of blood.
Through his clothes, it seemed like several hundred stars were faintly discernible.
Zhou Tong lay in the ruins of the courtyard, constantly vomiting blood, no longer able to stand up.
From the start of the battle, Cheng Jun had been hiding in the shadows, but now that the entire courtyard had been destroyed, there were naturally no shadows, revealing his figure.
As the only person to personally witness this battle, the leader of the Great Zhou Dynasty's redcoated cavalry had been in a daze for a very long time.
Chen Changsheng had actually won? A heavily injured youth had actually defeated the peak Star Condensation Lord Zhou Tong in a direct battle!
In this battle, the power Chen Changsheng had displayed had completely surpassed his imagination, no, surpassed the imagination of the entire world.
At this time, Chen Changsheng had already walked up to the ruins, his face pale and on the verge of collapse.
In this desperate battle, he had obtained the final victory, but he had also paid an unimaginable price. The true essence in his body had already been completely consumed. Even more frightening was that the price of forcefully breaking into Star Condensation had caused the meridians in his body to rupture once more. That blood, which contained boundless life energy and danger, was currently flowing through his internal organs.
A harsh light suddenly flashed through Cheng Jun's eyes.
In this battle, Chen Changsheng had displayed an unimaginable strength. Even now, he still could not understand just what that dazzling and violent blade glow was. But it was obvious that Chen Changsheng was on the verge of collapse and should not have the ability to continue fighting, so he wanted to gamble.
His right hand rose in the wind and hung by his waist. At any time, he could take out his magical artifact and prepare to launch a sneak attack.
Just at this moment, Chen Changsheng turned his head to glance at him.
His gaze fell, his spiritual sense fell, and his mind moved.
Above the ruins of the courtyard, countless mournful cries of swords resounded through the night sky. Soon after, countless sword glows descended from the sky.
The several thousand sword glows that had left their sheaths to destroy Zhou Tong's Star Domain of Blood followed Chen Changsheng's will and returned to the human world.
An awe-inspiring sword intent enveloped the battlefield. The cries of swords ceased, and what followed was a very soft piercing sound, like a piece of cloth being pierced.
Cheng Jun lowered his head and saw that a bloody hole had appeared in his chest.
Soon after, even more sword glows pierced through his body.
More and more bloody holes appeared on his body.
Thousands of sword lights, thousands of bloody holes. They were so densely packed that his body was covered in holes, and blood was spurting out everywhere.
Because there were too many sword holes, the blood flowed out in an instant. The dim light at the back of the courtyard shone through those holes, making his body look like a unique lampshade.
Cheng Jun raised his head and glanced at Chen Chang Sheng blankly. Then, his body suddenly loosened and became a pile of flesh on the ground. Only his head remained relatively intact.
Thousands of sword flashes passed through his body, swept across the courtyard, and then returned to Chen Chang Sheng's sheath.
The two crabapple trees were reduced to wood shavings and leaves in the night wind. Dozens of houses with the courtyard as the center were all cut into ruins.
Just like how shocked and confused Cheng Jun was, even if Chen Changsheng forcefully broke into Star Condensation, logically speaking, he should not have been able to defeat a powerful expert on the level of Zhou Tong.
But in reality, no one had ever seen his true strength. No one knew how strong he would be if he went all out.
Xu Yourong had a rough understanding, but she had never seen it with her own eyes.
Zhou Tong only knew that he had many famous swords passed down through the ages and that he had learned the sword from Su Li, but he did not know that he had also practiced Wang Po's blade intent, much less that he had learned Zhou Dufu's Halving Blade Style. He knew that he carried the Orthodoxy's Divine Staff, but he did not know that Su Li had left a letter in his bosom and that there were five Heavenly Tome Monoliths on his wrist.
Tonight's battle was the first time that Chen Changsheng had completely displayed his strength.
No, even at the very end, he had not used all of his techniques, because there was no need.
Chen Changsheng had used what Zhou Tong knew about him and what he did not know to perfectly design tonight's battle and obtain the final victory.
Back when they had returned south from the snowy plains, Su Li had taught him many things on the road. Marching armies and fighting battles, strategizing, he had used them all tonight.
This was the true Intellectual Sword. From start to finish, all the details had been in his grasp.
Of course, the key to his victory over Zhou Tong was still that final blade.
In that blade, he had used Zhou Dufu's blade style, but he had borrowed Wang Po's blade intent.
Wang Po's blade intent was straight.
A blade that went straight to the point.
Chen Changsheng did not know how a person should live their lives, but he knew that before he died, what he wanted to do the most was kill Zhou Tong.
So he had come to the alley of the Northern Military Department and gone straight to the point. If he wanted to kill Zhou Tong, he could kill Zhou Tong.
As he gazed at Zhou Tong lying in a pool of blood in the ruins, Chen Changsheng did not think about those famous ministers and great generals and innocent commoners who had died tragically in Zhou Prison. He did not think about the dreadful torture that Zhexiu had once suffered in this place. Without thinking about anything, he let go of the kitchen knife, gripped the Stainless Sword in the wind, and walked forward.
He only needed to take two steps forward, the sword would fall, and Zhou Tong would die.
He had no hesitation about this, no sympathy for the wicked, and certainly no explanation or funeral oration for the wicked.
And yet … he suddenly realized that he could not walk over.
His face had become abnormally pale.
At this moment, he was like a child who had not recovered from a long illness.
The night wind gently blew through the ruins of the courtyard. Both the sword glows and the sea of blood had already vanished without a trace. Some sort of law and principle faintly appeared in the breeze, blocking his steps.
It was a law and principle that he currently could not break through, an existence that surpassed the scope of his current understanding, yet it was something that seemed familiar to him.
He gazed into the depths of the darkness, wanting to see something, but ultimately, he saw nothing. Then he heard a few things: the light rustling of the night wind, the distant plaintive cries of autumn insects, the sound of the air being torn apart, the thundering of hooves on the street, the exhalation of experts, the sound of battle, and the splashing of blood.
The courtyard returned to silence, and then the darkness was torn apart by an even deeper darkness. Ten-some assassins of the Department for Purging Officials transformed into ten-some rays of black light and arrived at the scene. They had no time to be shocked by what had just happened, and immediately stood in front of Zhou Tong to protect him. At the same time, several assassins with cold Qi rushed at Chen Changsheng.
Chen Changsheng knew that it was probably impossible to kill Zhou Tong tonight.
This fact caused his hand gripping his sheath to become somewhat cold, as did his body. He paid no attention to those assassins of the Department for Purging Officials, instead continuing to gaze into the depths of the darkness, hoping that his opponent would appear and give a few words of explanation. But the darkness was still the same, so his breathing gradually became coarse.
Only those closest to him knew that this meant that he was currently extremely angry.
The person hidden in the darkness was probably also keenly aware of this point.
The black-clothed assassins of the Department for Purging Officials were like a part of the darkness, noiselessly arriving in front of Chen Changsheng. Without hesitation, they raised their poisoned metal thorns and thrust them at him.
Chen Changsheng's true essence was already exhausted and his internal injuries were acting up, but logically speaking, he should still have the ability to fight. At the very least, he should not have been killed by these assassins.
But he did not move. He only gazed into the depths of the darkness, his eyelids drooping, concealing the disappointment and faint sorrow in his eyes.
Whoosh whoosh whoosh whoosh! Several dozen piercing sounds rang out as many bright streaks of light appeared in the gloomy ruins of the courtyard.
These streaks of light were crossbow bolts imbued with divine energy, originating from the divine crossbows of the Orthodoxy cavalry.
Those black-clothed assassins groaned again and again as they desperately dodged, but they were still unable to escape the rain of crossbow bolts. They were shot and then transformed into plumes of smoke.
Dense and hurried footsteps rang out, followed by the sound of a door being forced open and the sound of old roof tiles being trampled on. A hundred-some Orthodoxy cavalry from the Li Palace had at some point abandoned their mounts. From the main street, they had leaped over houses and walls. In the shortest amount of time, they had completely surrounded the courtyard, at the same time tightly guarding Chen Changsheng behind them.
Just as the Orthodoxy cavalry charged into the office of the Department for Purging Officials, a line of fire suddenly blazed high up in the night sky!
Xue Xingchuan had come!
His hand gripping his spear, he stood in front of Zhou Tong and the others, his expression cold and stern as he gazed at Chen Changsheng in the midst of the Orthodoxy cavalry. Then he raised his right hand.
With his action, the figures of many Imperial Guard soldiers appeared in the darkness behind the ruins of the courtyard.
These soldiers wielded crossbows, the tips of the crossbows suffused with a gloomy and terrifying light.
There was a deathly stillness as the two sides confronted each other. No one spoke, and no one dared to take the initiative to draw their crossbows. Everyone was staring at Xue Xingchuan's right hand.
They knew that his right hand would assuredly fall, but they did not know whether it would fall gently or forcefully. These two actions represented two completely different wills.
This also signified that tonight, the capital, the future Great Zhou Dynasty, would enter two completely different situations.
"Let's end it here." An elderly voice came from the back of the crowd.
The crabapple tree in the courtyard had already been reduced to splinters, the house had already been reduced to ruins. Only the remnants of the stone arch leading to the outside world remained.
Mao Qiuyu and a Daoist nun dressed in a religious robe walked in through the broken stone arch.
Xue Xingchuan's eyes narrowed as he recognized the Daoist nun dressed in a religious robe. It was none other than the Li Palace's Archbishop of the Divine Edict, An Lin, who was permanently stationed in the south. However, he did not know when she had returned to the capital.
Two of the Orthodoxy's Six Prefects had already appeared here.
In Mao Qiuyu's hand was a magical pestle faintly glowing with light. This was a precious treasure of the Li Palace.
"Chen Changsheng murdered a minister of the Imperial Court. Could it be that the Li Palace wants the Imperial Court to treat this matter as if it never happened?"
Xue Xingchuan did not turn to look, but he also knew that Zhou Tong's miserable condition was unknown.
He said these words not because he was Zhou Tong's only true friend in the world, but because he was a Divine General of the Great Zhou. He represented the will of the Divine Empress.
Mao Qiuyu walked up to Chen Changsheng and calmly said, "Lord Zhou Tong has murdered so many ministers of the Imperial Court in these last few years, but the Imperial Court has always treated it as if it never happened. As the next Pope, Principal Chen, what does it matter if he occasionally does something like this?"
… …
… …
(The original title of the chapter was: In the depths of the darkness, there is a voice. Because it exceeded the number of words allowed for the title, it was changed to this.)
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